Spring Tide

Spring Tide was released in 2019. The film is a deeply moving drama, directed by Yang Lina, an accomplished Chinese filmmaker known for her delicate and emotionally charged homegrown dramas. Spring Tide showcases a generational triptych of three women in a family, each grappling with their own internal conflicts while attempting to understand and empathize with one another. This emotional drama carves out a humanistic story of generational struggle, resilience, and the friction and bond that exists in familial relationships.

The film’s narrative is primarily centered around Guo Jianbo played by Lei Hao, an investigative journalist working for a state-run news organisation who is caught in the two-dimensional tussle of pursuing unbiased truth for her articles and submitting to the propagandistic demands of her superior officials. Her profession makes for juxtaposition with her as a single mother to her young daughter Yuan Yuan portrayed by Junxi Qu, a relationship that hangs frequently in mid-air owing to her hectic schedules.

Next, we see her mother, Xiaoyu played by Taiwanese icon Elaine Jin, who is a retired schoolteacher and an individually powerful woman heavily committed to the practice of traditional virtues. A stern matriarch, she has a complex relationship with her daughter, laced with frequent clashes over their contrasting perspectives and ternary relationship with Yuan Yuan, with whom she shares a close bond.

In addition to navigating her roles as mother and daughter, Guo Jianbo balances her fervor for exposing truths with surviving in a patriarchal society. Her conflicts are complicated by her strenuous relationship with her divorced husband and his disconcerting influence on their daughter. These varying dynamics explore and represent the multifaceted experience of Chinese womanhood, each character grappling with their own notions of traditional and contemporary codes of conduct, morality, and femininity.

The setting of the movie plays a significant role. Spring Tide is set against the urban backdrop of Beijing, revealing the city's rapid transformation over the years, the growing disparities, and the effects of political ideologies on daily lives. Scenes often shift between the cluttered cityscape and the sea-side, mimicking the relatively quiet coastal town where Guo Jianbo's mother lives, reflecting the lives and minds of the characters as trapped between their tumultuous relationships and internal turmoil.

Director Yang Lina's storytelling, interwoven with the complexities of human emotions and relationships, is poignantly complemented by cinematographer Min Wang’s visually arresting shots. The aesthetic beauty of the lead characters' surroundings reveals the complexity hidden beneath their superficial calm, with every frame capturing not just a scene but a deep emotional payload echoed in the characters' dialogue and expressions.

The soundtrack of the film is equally powerful and cleverly deployed. Ambient sounds interlace with conversations, cleverly adding depth to the emotional landscape. The clashes of perspectives create a cacophonous symphony representing the characters' emotional journey.

Spring Tide is a beautiful film that delves into the heart of complex family relationships and generational conflicts. Each character’s portrayal is carefully nuanced, carrying with it a deep sense of realism that makes the viewer not just a spectator but an intimate part of their journey.

Elaine Jin delivers a brilliant and powerful performance, showcasing a plethora of emotions with grace and subtlety, while Lei Hao perfectly embodies the conflict of an independent working woman, torn between different roles and expectations. Junxi Qu, though young, shows her acting potential with a performance of remarkable depth and maturity beyond her age.

What sets Spring Tide apart is the intertwining of personal and generational narratives, seen through the uniquely female lens of its protagonists, the well-curated soundscapes, and the sterling performances of its leading ladies. While it may be a Chinese film, its themes of motherhood, womanhood, generational conflict, and the search for individuation against social norms are universal. The movie invites the audience on a captivating journey, bridging the gap between the traditional and contemporary, while serving a compelling slice of life from three female perspectives. Through these characters, the film challenges, explores, and underlines societal expectations of women and motherhood. The wave of spring tide, therefore, is an apt metaphor for the emotional journeys the characters undertake.